- Five of the six events scheduled to start Pokerfest were cancelled.
- Technical issues blamed, although players point to significant overlays had the events ran.
- Event 6 did run, and met its overlay during late registration.
PartyPoker suspended, then cancelled, the first five events in its spring Pokerfest tournament series Sunday.
In total, $482,500 was guaranteed in prizes across the five events, including a $215-buyin NLHE event with an assured $350k prize pool.
Players who registered for the tournaments had their buy-ins refunded.
According to player reports, Event 1 had a significant overlay at its scheduled start time.
A bwin.party representative was not immediately available to comment on the withdrawal. Players report that support staff blamed the problem on technical issues.
Two freeroll tournaments will run as an apology for the last minute cancellation, according to at least one report, with a combined $15k value given away in tournament ticket prizes.
The 6th and final event of the day—and the largest buyin, a $530-buyin, $250k-guaranteed tournament—did run, after it was suspended for reportedly 15 minutes. In total 501 players registered for the event, just covering the guarantee. First prize of $50k was awarded to the victor in the early hours of Monday morning.
In total, 64 events were originally scheduled in the series, culminating in a $650 buyin main event with a $1.5m guarantee—up $500k on last year’s. The series runs until May 5.
Pokerfest is Party’s only annual online poker tournament series. It first debuted in October 2011 with a 47-event schedule, and returned six months later in a spring 2012 slot with a larger spread. It did not return in the fall of 2012.
Pokerfest is one of the first spring tournament series of the year. It runs alongside rival iPoker's iPOPS. Both are preludes to the largest event in the online tournament calendar, PokerStars’ SCOOP.